jasonsager.dork.net

This is worth the time you won't get back just for the ending

2009-10-31T21:13:00.000-06:00

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

Pat goes to work

2009-10-19T08:02:00.001-06:00

Fall shred sesh

2009-10-18T12:06:00.002-06:00

gotta have a spare

2009-10-12T17:47:00.001-06:00

El Jefe

2009-10-05T12:15:00.000-06:00

they finally got it right.

Post Vegas

2009-09-30T15:15:00.002-06:00

Finally the download cable surfaced.

This is the crossing of several time and space continuums. I'm surprised the Earth continues to rotate.

Kerkit!

The theme was fun, how can one not enjoy Kerkin'it multiple times a day, with multiple partners, also, per day. This is Vegas after all.

BOOM. Somebody stop us.

Dirt demo. After riding the 6 hour Super D in Utah on Sunday, then spending another 4-5hrs per day at dirt demo riding the 6" travel XTC bikes, I'm ruined. Long travel trail bikes are too much fun. You can run over and jump off anything. I wonder what Rad Ross has in his baggy shorts' pockets. It was about 105*, so maybe...water? Shade?

Show specials. Be still my beating heart.

Ryan gave the best defense of his fugly national championship kit...

"If you don't like it, beat me at nats and design your own."

I'm not fast enough, but a Stars'N'Bars Jamis kit would look dapper.

10 shots of espresso and you, too, can look this bad ass.

Cheetos, soda in a bottle, and soda in a cup. Oh, missed the hotdog. Seriously, Stephen?

Summer lasted until Monday. Tuesday was Fall. Today is winter. Summer was good.

I've been picking peaches

2009-09-14T22:27:00.002-06:00

And jumping my bike.

I think, no, nay, I know that there are a lot of very bad things happening in the eastern deserts of Nevada and western areas of Utah. Whenever the wind blows from the west, all of us get sick. Friday, at 8:47am I was a healthy lad. 8:48, sick. I awoke to the smell of dog food, which means western wind in Ogden, because you can smell the dog food plant.

By lunch I was a wreck and today I called in sick for the first time ever at a job. Weak sauce. I should move to Switzerland. No one gets sick there I hear.

.ch

2009-09-08T01:24:00.002-06:00

Imagine racing on the sweetest hiking trails at Yellowstone National Park on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. That's what this was. Don't the hikers look annoyed?

trying to take the camera from my hand whilst riding...

glaciers

glacier fed

a car train/ferry

children drinking beer. Dad bought it for him.

a german

german words I have a hard time pronouncing

A car ride to a train ferry to a cable car just to get to Bettmeralp. That's remote...

pics

2009-09-04T13:08:00.003-06:00

I don't think I've had water with dinner all week. Its the Ross Schnell diet.

more beer, in a coffee mug.

for after all of your dinner beverages

some sort of bastardized Jan Ullrich bike.

old guys racing electric assisted bikes...meaning, you pedal and suddenly the electric motor kicks in and does the work for you.

I couldn't hang with their WATTS

Razor scooter. with trailer.

Gnome go-round.

The booth has been slammed this week with big hitters.

Eleena from Fox, Simon from Rapha, Guy from Rouler, Joe from IF, Mr. Dugast...you name it.

10hrs on your feet and a ride home in the rain never felt so good.

Dude, that's funny

2009-09-01T14:38:00.000-06:00

Yano kills me.

Blue moon

2009-09-01T13:36:00.004-06:00

I rarely post photos of people.

Here's Jason and Joe. The ceilings were low. We all felt like NBA players in that house.

The food was good and never ending. On the table was some kind of balsamic vinegar that was like molasses. Good stuff, as was the bier. Big hardy biers with every meal, sometimes instead of meals.

The hosts.

Bob Parlee hard at work.

That's all that's ever in the fridges...bier, Coke, sausage.

Euro Monday

2009-08-31T10:03:00.002-06:00

The race doesn't matter, some would say it went south because I wasn't totally on board with what I was doing anyway. At least I made the front group then didn't quit when things went south. I surely wanted to quit a million times, but the way the course was set up, if you made it through the hellacious climb up the start/finish, there was no way you were going to quit after having done all that hard work and a ripping single track descent in front of you. If the bail out point had been at the bottom, that would have been a different story.

Afterwards, I put my friend Niel's advice to good use and did the Col de la Cayolle. It was more scenic that Saturday's ride, but the roads weren't as entertaining.

I learned you can't buy gas in France on Sunday afternoons. Everything was closed. EVERYTHING. At some places you can guy gas at a "closed" station, but you'll need a specil Euro credit card.

Another thing that I noticed is that in France its not a mountain bike race if you're not A)walking at some point and B)averaging 8mph for the duration of the race. Its torque based racing where you never really pedal circles, just vertical lines and the big ring is more of a chain holder than anything else. Rad fan support out there though...folks know your name, give you splits, and even helped me swap a rotor in a tech zone where I didn't have any tech support. That's rad.

The Ubaye Valley should be on your short places to visit if you like time with your family and bikes.

Amsteg, CH is another of my new favs. I shredded some serious sheep poop out there.

DIE DIE DIE. The Italians are awesome at cheering. I was cheering for them for hauling so much gear up the hill while they were cheering for me.

I wonder if Lake Lucerne freezes in winter?

So braaap it hurts

2009-08-30T01:01:00.002-06:00

I already wore these out on two folks, but that did inspire me to share.

I "should" have been resting after taking a few laps on the totally Euro (read HARD) course, but what am I going to do, sit around and waste an afternoon? Simply picking up any piece of literature about the area and you'll be innundated with historical accounts (and routes) of umpteen Tour battles on the area roads. While I missed almost all of the scenery by driving in late on Friday, the scent of burning oil and melted tires coming from the Audi still wafting from the wheel wells in the morning told me that the roads here HAD to be experienced.

And they were.

I've ridden a lot of roads in a lot of rad places, and nothing has been as scenic, twisty, dangerous, or rad as these...

And that's being tackled on a mtb with knobbies. I'm coming back next summer with a road bike and lots of time on my hands. Spain has kick ass pavement, Switzerland the best paint stripes, but this region of France seems to have the ability to lay tarmac anywhere and everywhere you could hope to ride a bike, and few places you probably wish they hadn't.

Pra Loup to La Faux d'Allos, and if I'd had a road bike (and more time) surely it this would have turned into one of the top 2 all time loops I've taken a bike out on.

fofo-dump

2009-08-29T01:29:00.002-06:00

more cow bell.

no need to bring water or food on rides in Switzerland, its all available roadside or in the village centers.

Just watch out for naked children.

Personalized streets in Zurich

2+2=

2009-08-26T13:21:00.002-06:00

6spd rental car.

600km's through the Alps

I better go get some coffee, chocolate, and gum.

The Sound of One Hand Clapping

2009-08-20T21:07:00.005-06:00

This reminds me of a NORBA I went to once (several times)...

Speaking of NORBAs, I forgot a great story from Windham last week.

I lined up to race the XC, albeit, with a half assed attempt. The walking group for the first few sections of woods was where I found myself, but eventually that opened up and the traffic parted from where ever I was in the back through somewhere into the 20's...which by that time the gaps, and my motivation, grew apart in diverging directions.

The writing was on the wall that I wasn't going anywhere that really mattered....and good ol'race math kicked in:

"I lost 5min on first lap with traffic, 16min laps for the leaders, 17 min laps for me, 5 laps in and I should be coming close to getting lapped."

So, sitting up cost me a couple of spots on the results board, but things were timed perfectly to get yanked just before Kabush came around...its one thing to get pulled, but please, have some decency and don't let them actually lap you.

My plan was this: because shortly after the XC was the SuperD start, and this would give me a 15min advantage on the other guys - I could sneak in a SuperD run or two before the race started and not have to race it blind.

But...like my man John once said...“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans ”

As soon as I crossed the line, this being a UCI C1 event, I thought..."there should be anti-doping controls here."

Having once had an experience with this, I figured I'd check the board....which turned out to be a piece of typing paper crinkled on the back of an 18 Wheeler trailer. But...as weak as the "medical control" board was, low and behold there were chaperones...and they grabbed my while I was checking the list.

I was primary random, once again, and off to produce a sample we went. I killed two bottles, grabbed a 3rd, and went down to pee.

You need to provide 100ml.
But all i have is 70ml.

Guess you'll have to wait.

Big surprise...it was hot, humid, and we just finished with a XC race. I was a bit dehydrated.

Kabush failed miserably also, so we sat and waited...drinking until our bellies distended and ached..and waited further. Kbomb lapped me again and produced his 100ml, while I waited....and the clocked ticked. In all my efforts to ride slow in the XC so that I could ride fast in the SuperD, I ended up missing the SuperD start while waiting for 30ml of sample to manifest.

Brilliant.

calm between storms

2009-08-19T06:58:00.004-06:00

Blogging is now like marathon or "epic" mtb racing...people may or may not be writing still, but no one reads it. Marathon racing is not what it once was where people pay attention to it, either.. its happening, but no one really cares, they're busy doing their own things. It comes down to folks writing and riding for their own benefit, as it should be. If you don't want to write, or ride, don't. There's no obligation, and neither takes the place of real writing, or XC racing, as it were.

Real mtb events...that's what this is all about. It was very apparent the difference in the crowds and vibe between the US Cup event at Windham and those at the Dark Horse 40 in southern New York last weekend.

People. Lots of people.

Events like the Dark Horse are what its all about to me - fun trails, good racing, crowds, and the party that is before/during/and afterwards...though I really question the part during the event. That was 3 hours of sweaty bump greasy and slick trails...no commas needed.

But the US Cups are the big show in the US and they do a good job. Its a pleasure to support and see the guys succeed on that platform, and their enthusiasm is genuine, as is mine.

We have a good crew who never stop giving each other a hard time...and don't take themselves too seriously despite being some of the best athletes in the business. Food makes things easy, and they never stop eating...it seems like that's all we do when we're on the road.

This trip, like most, was interspersed with dealer visits. Its a chance for us to connect with the local scene, dealers of our sponsor's products, and us to sample new trails with new friends.

Its usually a complete goof-off session, OR, us getting our legs ripped off by the area's hammer head riders stoked to ride with the PROS.

Inbetween the visits, we spent last week exploring the Stratton Mountain area in Vermont. I'd like to have hassled Millillilliman, but that didn't work out...so next time, we're taking you up on the opportunity to visit RIP.

At Mount Snow, I was in heavy cold medication, racing/riding practically drunk. It showed and I kept crashing my brains out....so I skipped the STXC and took those 25mins to heckle, I mean, Support, everyone I knew. Its been awhile since a race was watched and not participated in....its quite fun, ya know? Both racing and watching, that is...and the heckling.

And before all of this travel happened, the Rapha Continental boys and girls visited Utah.

That was an interesting day...but this, dear empty audience, is another story.

Burn, burn, yes you're going to burn.

2009-08-12T20:48:00.000-06:00

sauce

2009-08-10T22:52:00.002-06:00

Weak Sauce

2009-06-30T00:12:00.004-06:00

I need to take this site, or at least its current format, out back, shoot it, dig a hole, and push the lifeless carcass into it.

In the meantime...

Finally this week, to my demise, I was able to ride quite a bit. At Edge we were entertaining folks all week, and what do folks visiting Edge want to do?

Ride bikes.

Procycling is doing a piece on us, and now I know why everyone looks like a posing dork in the photos - try riding up a hill such that your left pedal is at exactly 10 o'clock, without going too fast, while crossing a very specific point in the road. It'll take you 20 tries, and the photographer another 20 tries to get it right....it proved to be good brake track testing for the wheels at least.

Each day we'd do some sort of road ride that would then morph into a mtb ride. Being a hack former-ish pro now, I'd hike up my big girl undies and do the whole bit by bike, not car. This meant a few mtb rides in road shoes, a mean sunburn, and double my usual weekly riding hours....not that I'm complaining, except that Thursday's ride was so long, and capped off with the Thursday World's crit championships, that Friday I could barely get out of bed. Not leg fatigue, but body fatigue.

Those sorts of weeks and miles used to be common place. I remember that pain and fatigue, and riding through it without too much trouble, but now...being older and marginally wiser, it was enough to really make me wonder why.

The airlines lost our luggage heading back East which meant 100mph to zero, metaphorically speaking, and not riding for two days heading into a local MN race. Sea level was great, my choice to big ring the entire race, less of a great choice, as Monday brought another round of why.

Actually, the why isn't that questionable, but the change in roll is what you end up pondering on.

I guess it is all about deep dark woods. Because, that's what always feels the best.

The more time I'm out there, the less time I'm inside, and winter returns more and more quickly each year it seems.

We're going to Wisconsin this upcoming weekend, then Downieville, then Nats, then, then, then, then, then....

I now race on mtb tubulars more often than not. Hell, we train on them sometimes.

2009-06-05T20:24:00.001-06:00

we don't know who she is

2009-06-05T20:16:00.000-06:00

CPR is best performed @

2009-06-05T12:40:00.001-06:00

CPR is best performed @ 100bpm. The same beat as Stayin' Alive and Another one Bites the Dust.

Spanglish at its best

2009-06-03T08:58:00.000-06:00

Business isn't that great, evidently.

DIA

2009-06-01T10:24:00.002-06:00

So I'm sitting around the Birmingham airport and thought we'd have a send off with a nice bowl of grits...with salt and pepper of course, but not cheese grits. Those gross me out and the one time I tried them the cheese stuck to my teeth, which was weird.

The team did fairly fab-o this weekend, Seamus hit the box and Rotem attacked the front of the race several times and wound up 9th, his first top 10. Even the old guy here moved from his back row start to getting beat up on by the Kenda duo of Schultz/Cares. I'd surely have slayed them on the last lap were it not for one evil rock going into the last lap.

Not having been in the NORBA circus in awhile, this trip was nice...and we are like Carnies..you see the same folks when going out to eat, before the race, after the race, on the way to the airport, waiting for TSA, on the plane...and even when lounging.

Off to Vail on Thursday.